This morning, as I began washing my face, I couldn’t help but pause to take note of my reflection. The first thing I noticed was the silvery glint of my gray hair. As many of you know, I stopped coloring it back in 2011 and never looked back. Next I noticed my eyes. What’s that? Is that a sparkle? Why, yes. Yes it is! Amidst the myriad wrinkles and smile lines there were my greenish-blue eyes twinkling at me with what I can only describe as sage mischievousness. Hmm…what else have you got there? As I allowed my gaze to flow over my face and down to my not-so-smooth neckline with gentle scrutiny, I realized that my lips had parted into a giant smile. Yes, there amidst the foaming cleanser was a humungous grin. “Not too bad for 53 years old!” I exclaimed. And then it hit me. I don’t like the term ‘old’.Who thought of that convention anyway? 23 years old. 79 years old. That feels like simply tracking time. And aren’t we here to do so much more than that? So, I’m not going to use it anymore. Why use a word that identifies something as worn out, ancient, obsolete? I don’t feel any of those things. I feel pretty amazing. In fact, I felt much older than this in my 40’s. So, if the past 53 years has taught me anything, it’s that my age truly is just a number. A number that I believe represents the accumulation of years, days, hours, and minutes I have been gathering wisdom. Some years have yielded more success than others, to be sure. But, isn’t that the way of life with most things? So, from now on, I am claiming my age as my Wisdom Tracker; not an indication of how old I am.
Today I pronounce that I am 53 years wise and growing! How wise are you? And, what other limiting conventions should we re-define? Let’s play. It is our Sacred Adventure after all.